Correspondence - #62 and HA#3 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Wendy Seiden, Director June 8, 2022 SUBJECT: Consent Calendar Item #62 - Support for WISEPlace Dear City Council and Special Housing Authority, On behalf of the Aitken Family Protection Clinic, I am writing to express enthusiastic support for WISEPlace and its efforts to develop supportive housing for women experiencing homelessness, some of Orange County's most vulnerable citizens for whom there has been a longstanding housing shortage. I am an attorney who has specialized in the intersection of domestic violence and child abuse for the past thirty years. I have represented and provided services to thousands of women, most of them without financial resources, during that time. Since 2010, I have taught domestic violence law to Chapman University’s law students and through the Aitken Family Protection Clinic, have been providing legal advice and representation to survivors of domestic violence and related crimes. Since 2018, we have focused specifically on unhoused and housing insecure survivors of domestic violence and related crimes. During these four years, we have often worked with WISEPlace or with WISEPlace clients. We have found WISEPlace to be effective and responsible in their efforts to house and provide services for women – especially older women. While temporary shelter is helpful, actual housing with support is the only way to begin to resolve this county’s homelessness crisis. We are pleased to support WISEPlace’s solution to ending homelessness through this development and accompanying wraparound services. Women, and in particular older women, are an unexpectedly large percentage of Orange County’s unhoused population. Combining a place where women can live and pay no more than 30% of their income in rent, along with support services to address disabling conditions, will create a stable environment where Orange County’s vulnerable women can thrive. The 2019 Point in Time counted over 6800 homeless residents of Orange County. Affordable Housing options for women are a growing community concern. One in three women make up this part of the unhoused population with well over 40% being survivors of domestic violence. We estimate the percentage of unhoused women who are survivors of domestic violence to be quite a bit higher, and we know from experience that domestic violence is often the proximate cause of homelessness for women. This population of women endures higher rates of firsttime homelessness, longer periods of homelessness, and higher barriers in accessing stable housing. Unaccompanied women, or women without partners or minor children, also report extremely high incidence of trauma -- physical, sexual, or emotional -- that is compounded by their ongoing houselessness. The opportunity